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Friday, January 4, 2013

My Snow Has Fleas!

Earlier this week we had so much snow that we just had to
strap on our skinny skis and lay some tracks across the hayfields and into the
woods. One morning when I headed out on my skis, I found specks of pepper in
the tracks – pepper specks that hopped up and down.

It wasn’t pepper – it was a bunch of snow fleas. Snow fleas
aren’t really fleas; they’re tiny arthropods called Collembola, or “springtails”
and they’re about 1/8 inch (2 mm) long. They’re called “springtails” because
they have two tail-like furcula on their back end – thin tails that are tucked
up underneath their belly. When the springtail wants to move it releases its
spring-loaded tail, which catapults it up into the air. It’s a great way to
move, but there’s only one problem: the tiny critters can’t control where they
go, so they often land in the same spot or just a few inches away.

Springtails live in the soil, which right now is a couple
feet under the snow. But on warm winter days they climb or hop or catapult
their way to the surface and hang out in cross country ski tracks and other
places. They’ve got glycine-rich antifreeze protein inside that keeps them from
turning into ice crystals.

I found my snow fleas in the woods, but they’re everywhere.
So keep your eyes out for tiny flecks on the snow. And when you find some, grab
a hand lens and get a good look at them.

You can find out lots more about snow fleas here. And remember to check out more cool science stuff at STEM Friday.